Originally scheduled for

completion by Jan. 1, Sublette County’s new

communication system is delayed as contractor

Harris Communication struggles to purchase

enough frequencies. The latest delay is

a holdup on one of the existing towers, which

has been deemed unable to support the county’s

additional equipment.

The ongoing project was debated at the

Jan. 8 meeting of the Sublette County Commissioners.

All five commissioners were in

attendance including Chairman Dave Burnett,

Joel Bousman, Mack Rawhouser, Tom

Noble and Doug Vickrey.

The initial plan was to use the existing Enterprise

Tower located in southern Sublette

County.

An initial engineering assessment done

with computer modeling has deemed the

tower unable to hold additional equipment in

part because one of the tower’s supports is

compromised with a bend in it.

Harris has asked for an additional $20,875

to send an engineer to Sublette County and

complete an additional assessment to determine

a remedy. Even after spending the

money, there is no guarantee anything can be

done to salvage the tower.

Additionally, Enterprise that owns the

tower initially said there would be no additional

costs to use it. The county went

through the extra steps to get approval from

the Bureau of Land Management to have a

generator at the location. Once approval was

given, the company reneged, and wants to

keep the site and with a contract and additional

fees.

Sublette County Unified Fire Chief Shad

Cooper said an alternative site has been identified,

but until employees return to work at

the Bureau of Land Management, nothing

more can move forward. The other site is located

in the jurisdiction of the Pinedale Field

Office. The Enterprise site in the jurisdiction

of the Rock Springs Field Office, giving him

hope for cooperation.

Contractor Dave Smith, who signed on

while the new communication system is

built, said it is not uncommon for a tower location

to fail its initial computer modeling.

He said once an engineer reviews everything,

the fix could be easy or expensive. Despite

not owning the tower, the repair costs

fall to the county.

“That’s the way it works; the initial owner

makes the original investments and people

adding on pay for upgrades,” Smith said. He

added without seeing the existing tower in

person, no engineer will sign off since there

is no history.

“When you’re the new guy, it’s all on

you,” Smith said. “We want something that

will still be standing in 50 to 60 years.”

Burnett said the time delay is a much bigger

concern than the cost for an engineer.

Smith said based on what has already

been committed to the project, the money is

minimal. He added the county is between a

“rock and a hard place” and “should roll the

dice.”

“You might get lucky,” Smith said. He

added at this time, the county doesn’t have a

lease agreement for the Enterprise site.

“At this point we’ve been working with

Enterprise for a year and have gotten nowhere,”

Burnett said.

Additionally, Harris continues to apply

for frequencies with the Federal Communications

Commission, and all work is on hold

as the government remains shut down.

A contract with Smith to assist the county

with the communication system was extended

to a month-to-month basis at $3,752

per month beyond the original Dec. 31,

2018, date due to delays.

• Road and Bridge Supervisor Billy Pape

reported actions to get a new permit to remove

ravens from the county’s landfill are

on hold while the federal government remains

shut down. Renewing the landfill permit

with the Department of Environmental

Quality is also on hold.

• While the commission meets four times a

year in the southern part of Sublette County,

alternating between Marbleton Town Hall

and Big Piney Town Hall, commissioners

asked to have all of the meetings at Marbleton

for better acoustics and a larger space for

community members.

• Bousman was appointed to represent

Sublette County in the Wyoming Community

Commissioners Association.

• Burnett requested that future agendas include

a public comment time to address the

commission and that petitions to address the

commission be accepted through Wednesday,

with an agenda be available the Thursday

before a meeting.